He has it memorized???!?!?!?
April 3, 2012 9:20 PM   Subscribe

Rob Paulsen, voice actor extraordinaire, performs Yakko's World... live... from memory.

Yakko's World as originally featured on Animaniacs. (For those who weren't already familiar.)
posted by hippybear (104 comments total) 58 users marked this as a favorite
 
This made me clap with glee. Thank you.
posted by whitneyarner at 9:25 PM on April 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


I've learned Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" and Wakko's "50 State Capitals" song, so I guess this is next.

Wish me luck.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:27 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


And I thought I was awesome for knowing They Might Be Giants' "The Alphabet of Nations". Props.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:28 PM on April 3, 2012


One of the first CD's I ever purchased with pocket change as a kid was an album of songs from The Animaniacs. I stand by it as one of the most worthy purchases I've made in my life thus far.
posted by sendai sleep master at 9:29 PM on April 3, 2012 [10 favorites]


Related: Three Panel Soul.
posted by sourcequench at 9:33 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


OMFG. You might have just saved my life.
posted by eriko at 9:35 PM on April 3, 2012


He did that on Saturday too at the Emerald City Comic Con -- Maurice LaMarche egged him on. It was AWESOME. The entire crowd clapped along. It was SO SO COOL.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 9:35 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


I remember memorizing Wakko's song about the 50 states and their capitals when I was in middle school. I had a geography test coming up, and I was having a terrible time keeping them straight, so I dragged my karaoke machine over to the TV and recorded the audio onto a cassette (having previously added the episode itself to my extensive collection of homemade VHS compilations).

I listened to Wakko's USA on repeat on my walkman for at least a week, over and over again, until I could sing the entire thing from memory. My geography teacher and I loathed each other, and this would be my hard-won chance to show her up. I was going to blow that test out of the water.

Unfortunately, 6th-grade-me neglected to memorize WHERE the states themselves were located.

(This video was the perfect cure for a largely shitty day. Thanks for sharing it, hippybear!)
posted by Narrative Priorities at 9:35 PM on April 3, 2012 [5 favorites]


Well, great.

Now I've got bologna in my slacks.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:36 PM on April 3, 2012 [28 favorites]


His name is Robert Paulson?
posted by grog at 9:37 PM on April 3, 2012 [21 favorites]


That's out of date, isn't it? He sings "Germany now in one piece" and then "Czechoslovakia"which should be "Czech Republic and Slovakia"... How many lyrical changes are needed to make it current, and would Rob Paulsen wring my neck for it?

(Paulsen with an E, no relation to Pat, apparently)
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:38 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


Of related interest is last week's Nerdist podcast with Paulsen and LaMarche, where you can hear Pinky & The Brain say funny swear words.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:40 PM on April 3, 2012 [8 favorites]


How many lyrical changes are needed to make it current, and would Rob Paulsen wring my neck for it?

Apparently Randy Rogel is the one you should contact about any potential lyric updates. Maybe drop him a line and see what he can come up with?
posted by hippybear at 9:42 PM on April 3, 2012


"I came!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:45 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


It's a great big universe / And we're all really puny. / We're just tiny little specks, / about the size of Mickey Rooney.
posted by crunchland at 9:47 PM on April 3, 2012 [5 favorites]


While showing the SO a YouTube video Yakko's World, I ran into this: Yakko's World. In Arabic. And the theme for a bonus.

I was in college when this show was on.

Yeah, whatever. I still watched it and bought the CDs.
posted by linux at 9:50 PM on April 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


There are a number of geographical problems. The song has "both Yemens", but just one Sudan. Yugoslavia needs to be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia and Montenegro. That's going to play merry hell with the meter. No Singapore either.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:51 PM on April 3, 2012


Also: look at the related and you'll see all the other translations.
posted by linux at 9:51 PM on April 3, 2012


My freshman roommate was from Sweden, and was here in the US playing for our college's Tennis team. He could also sing this song word for word, but the trick was you had to get him drunk enough to do it. Let me tell you, there's not much funnier than someone blazing through the countries of the world in a heavily slurred Swedish accent.
posted by shmaw at 9:52 PM on April 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


Memorized this a few years ago when I was stuck in Nebraska for a few weeks. Someone should update the song to be geopolitically current. I would rememorize the hell out of it.
posted by 221bbs at 9:55 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


There are a number of geographical problems.

Yakko's World lyrics

Yakko's World missing countries, non-countries, and Yakko's New World.
posted by hippybear at 9:57 PM on April 3, 2012 [6 favorites]


There is nothing that is not good about the Animaniacs. I remember having to pause a VHS tape of "Clown and Out," when the clown said "I'm in the sky...." for at least three minutes because the people I was showing it to were in pain from laughing, but they couldn't stop.

Andromeda Strain-y....
posted by tzikeh at 10:04 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


The best Anamaniacs episode is the Apocalypse Now one and I will brook no argument.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:06 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'd be more surprised if he managed to perform the original song without having it memorised.
posted by gronkpan at 10:07 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


There is nothing that is not good about the Animaniacs.

There is ONE thing that is not good about the Animaniacs...

...and that is Warner Home Video's utter refusal to release the Animaniacs Vol. 4 DVD set, which would contain the final 24 episodes of the show still not officially released on home video.

Bastards.
posted by hippybear at 10:07 PM on April 3, 2012 [8 favorites]


I remember memorizing this song when I was in high school. It helped me get through world geography, and was fun to randomly sing if I wanted to impress other Animaniacs fans.
posted by madelf at 10:08 PM on April 3, 2012


There are some countries sung here that are no longer valid, but, even more disturbing, there are several countries that are younger than Justin Beiber.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 10:12 PM on April 3, 2012


There is nothing that is not good about the Animaniacs.

Unfortunately this is false. It's not as false as "There is nothing that is not good about Tiny Toon Adventures," but still. Do not forget: Rita and Runt. Mindy and Buttons. And probably one or two other bits I've forgotten, like that one in which the candle flame tells us about American history. Yeah sure, burn out already.

Most of the time the Warner Bros. + sister bits were good ("Hey, he's got P.P. on his smock!"), Slappy Squirrel was often inspired, and Pinky and the Brain fully deserved its own show. But even of these bits, there were as many misses as hits. In retrospect, Freakazoid had a much higher hit rate.
posted by JHarris at 10:15 PM on April 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


Rita and Runt??? Mindy and Buttons??? on your "this is wrong about Animaniacs" list?

You, sir, are Mr. Wrongy McWrongerton.

(I agree about the stupid candle flame thing. But loved the one about the bees, and found the wrapping paper short improves with repeat viewings.)

Okay, nice lady, I love you, buh-bye!
posted by hippybear at 10:19 PM on April 3, 2012 [14 favorites]


The best Anamaniacs episode is the Apocalypse Now one and I will brook no argument.

You'll get no argument from me. This show (ostensibly for kids, but we all know how that goes) not only parodied Apocalypse Now, but managed to make it a dig at The Day the Clown Cried as well. Really, that's just genius.

(Close second to that episode is "Animaniacs' Stew," in which we get the inspired "Mindy and the Brain.")
posted by tzikeh at 10:25 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


On the (somewhat rare) occasions someone says to me, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I respond, "I think so, Brain, but where are we going to find rubber pants out size?"

Makes people look at you oddly.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:30 PM on April 3, 2012 [12 favorites]


I think so, Brain, but isn't Regis Philbin already married?
posted by hippybear at 10:34 PM on April 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


As a kid, I actually liked both "Animaniacs" and "Tiny Toon Adventures". Sure, I probably liked "Animaniacs" more, but I still did at least like "Tiny Toon Adventures".

Except for Elmyra.

God, I hated Elmyra.

Even as a kid, I hated her. Hated her hated her hated her. So much.

"Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain". Why. Why.
posted by KChasm at 10:34 PM on April 3, 2012 [5 favorites]


I respond to "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" with:

"I think so, Brain, but burlap chafes me so."
posted by Earthtopus at 10:43 PM on April 3, 2012 [6 favorites]


I can do this! I memorized the song back in high school and once you've got it, it doesn't leave you. I still sing it to myself in the shower and was quietly singing along as I watched this. From the responses in this thread so far it seems like a lot of people took it upon themselves to learn it.

I memorized the first 100 digits of pi then too, but I can only do about 40 now before I start to lose track. I should have set them to a catchy song.
posted by painquale at 10:43 PM on April 3, 2012


I think JHarris was almost completely right, in that big chunks of Animaniacs were awful. Rita and the Runt... just... yuck! But I was kinda okay with the Mindy episodes, they were a rehash of an old gag, and I found them kind of nostalgic, even as a relative youngster.

But when they were on, man, it was the best cartoon ever. That Apocalypse now sendup was one of the best animated bits that's been created, period.

I think my favorite individual gag was when the Warner Bros. were making some medieval baron's life miserable, and he did the usual evil-plan-laugh at some point... you've seen it before, the huge belly laugh, gigantic open mouth. We zoomed in on his face, and then into the blackness of his mouth, the usual fade-to-black schtick.

Except this time, it stayed black for a second. Then, suddenly, "Hey! Geh uh camera out uh my mouf!"
posted by Malor at 10:46 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I think so, Brain, but, the Rockettes? I mean, it's mostly girls, isn't it?
posted by tzikeh at 10:46 PM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


"I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking? I mean, what would the children look like?"
posted by Malor at 10:50 PM on April 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


I must say, now when anyone says "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" My next thought is...Makeover!
posted by lizjohn at 10:52 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


While we're having our Animaniacs moment: the single most subversive and filthiest thing I think childrens' tv has ever gotten away with was in the short "Hercule Yakko," when Yakko has asked everyone to "search for prints!" And later, Dot comes into the room carrying Prince (Artist Formerly [and then again later] Known As):

DOT: Look! I found Prince!
YAKKO: No, no - FINGER prints!
DOT: (a take to the camera) ... I don't think so.
posted by tzikeh at 10:56 PM on April 3, 2012 [28 favorites]


AHA - and here it is (that exchange is at 2:40).
posted by tzikeh at 11:03 PM on April 3, 2012


There is nothing that is not good about the Animaniacs.


I'm still not sure how the 'pianist' jokes in this episode made it onto television.
posted by empath at 11:04 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


If people look at you funny when you make certain responses to "are you thinking what I'm thinking", know that you have alternatives. Thank you, Early Internet.

My preferred choice: "Uh, I think so Brain, but how are we gonna teach a goat to dance with flippers on?"
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:07 PM on April 3, 2012 [2 favorites]




Heh, from empath's last link, at 8:08, there's a horse named "Phar Fignewton".

God, that was sometimes a great show.
posted by Malor at 11:40 PM on April 3, 2012


Yes, I stand completely by Rita and Runt sucking. Do you not remember that they put, in just about every one of those cartoons, a full musical number? With no jokes? Even My Little Pony now knows to make the songs funny. Mindy and Buttons is a little better, but still overall bleh. And all the most-used segments on the show tended to have their sucky moments at times (except, provisionally, Slappy Squirrel, but it's been a long time). Pinky and the Brain, the strongest of the segments, was roughly half the time wasted with weird historical stories -- when the intro actually introduces the pair as living in Acme Labs, why would you then show them in Sigmund Freud's office?

But lest it seem like I'm too far down on it, when the show was good, it was very very good. Better than Tiny Toons certainly (I never did understand why that was so popular).
posted by JHarris at 12:52 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Honestly, Animaniacs rocked my world. I may have been a little bit behind the times, but for me in 1994, discovering Animaniacs at the age of 30 from a bunch of younger, nerdy physics grad students, it was a revelation. There was so much in the show that was aimed at adults, and was very sly, that it amazed me.

Indeed, I vividly recall the exact moment and skit when my mind was blown. It was the bit where a bunch of older comedians were reminiscing about Wakko, about his comedic genius. It was documentary style, like something you'd see on the history channel, and all the old comedians were old vaudevillians, among them a Milton Berle. And Berle relates an Wakko anecdote, says, "Now that's comedy", and it was all so pitch-perfect. And kids watching this would have absolutely no reference for what this was all about. None.

The original Loony Tunes did a bit of this, of course. But there was so much meta stuff in Animaniacs, so much sly humor aimed at adults, that it went way beyond anything like it. For me, it represented the moment of the birth of what I think of as the essence of contemporary media culture. A lot of meta-narrative, a lot of irony. I know there was a lot of stuff that were precursers to this. But Animaniacs did then what Adult Swim does now, except in the context of a culture where that sort of thing wasn't inevitable and commonplace. And it did it so well. As purely children's cartoons, they were extremely successful and pure fun (and in this it really was in the spirit of Loony Tunes).

I don't understand why it's not celebrated more today than it is — except that maybe for the younger generation, what was groundbreaking then seems only commonplace now.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:54 AM on April 4, 2012 [13 favorites]


I think I meant Yakko in my previous comment.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:31 AM on April 4, 2012


hippybear: "Rita and Runt??? Mindy and Buttons??? on your "this is wrong about Animaniacs" list?

You, sir, are Mr. Wrongy McWrongerton.

(I agree about the stupid candle flame thing. But loved the one about the bees, and found the wrapping paper short improves with repeat viewings.)

Okay, nice lady, I love you, buh-bye!
"

Is that of the Wrongertown McWrongertons?
posted by Samizdata at 1:54 AM on April 4, 2012


There is no great show that has run for any length of time that hasn't had it's down moments.

That said, I even liked what many here call the down moments of Animaniacs.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:01 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Ivan Fyodorovich: "There was so much in the show that was aimed at adults, and was very sly, that it amazed me."

I remember an awesome shout out to the Jackie Gleason show; not a Honeymooners sketch, but the end where he paid tribute to the Miami Beach audience.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:04 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Do you not remember that they put, in just about every one of those cartoons, a full musical number? With no jokes?

Yes, I remember that. Do you know why that was? Because Rita was Bernadette fucking Peters, that's why. You land a voice like that in what is essentially an animated variety show, you're gonna use it.

As a demonstration that Rita and Runt were, in fact, awesome, I direct you here.

You want bad Animaniacs segments, you go look at the Hip Hippos. That was sheer, unadulterated badness distilled and used to fashion six-minute fat jokes. Or White Gloves. Or that one Skippy and Slappy half-hour episode where Slappy goes senile and gets put into a nursing home. What was Ruegger thinking? Sheesh.
posted by darksasami at 2:27 AM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]


Holy cow.
posted by Optamystic at 3:17 AM on April 4, 2012


I'm totally with JHarris that I hated Rita and Runt. Unreservedly. Even with the 'good' episodes like the one you linked. I didn't care if it was Bernadette fucking Peters, I wanted comedy. Everything else about the show I could live with, but I was cheering enthusiastically for the pound to catch Rita... anything, anything to get rid of the incessant, self-satisfied warbling, and get back to the funny stuff.
posted by Malor at 3:29 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


The very first Pinky and the Brain I saw, there was a bit where Brain got hit on the head with something; he sat up in a daze, when Pinky asked him how he was, he said, "....All my thoughts are in Dutch." And to gild the lily, they had a bunch of little windmills flying around his head instead of the usual cartoon birdies.

I was hooked and I still sometimes say that all my thoughts are in Dutch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:17 AM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]


He has it memorized???!?!?!?

Wouldn't he have to have it memorized? It would be harder to read it that fast.
posted by DU at 4:19 AM on April 4, 2012


Pfft, I memorized that as a kid! Actually, it inspired me to come up with my own songs to memorize long lists of facts. The periodic table to Bingo...the Roman emperors to Git Along Little Dogies...putting facts to music got me through high school and college.

The Surrealist Artist song: (To the tune of Yankee Doodle)

Man Ray Duchamp Ernst Carrington Magritte Dali and Kahlo,
And in the case of Guernica we add Pablo Picasso.

Tip your waitresses, I'll be here all night.
posted by Elly Vortex at 4:26 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


The fact that Animaniacs is not on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix or anything else I can find makes me want to commit copyright crime. (The DVDs are on my shelf at home, but that doesn't help me RIGHT NOW)
posted by DigDoug at 5:31 AM on April 4, 2012


Rita and Runt are, in my opinion, excellent. But that isn't enough. They quite simply don't fit the tone of the show. To take one example, Les Miseranimals is a potted Les Mis with most of the highlights crammed into the space of ten minutes. It's an incredible piece of writing even without Bernadette Peters' voice, and was a very worthwhile ten minute youtube video.

But that isn't enough. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Rita and Runt. But sandwiching Les Miseranimals between Slappy Squirrel and the Wheel of Morality (or whatever it actually was in the episode - I have it on DVD but can't be bothered to look it up) is like trying to put a classical piece by a string quartet in the middle of a rock concert. It almost doesn't matter how good the players are - in the context it's in it isn't going to work.
posted by Francis at 5:48 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


one most amazing thing (IMHO) in that show were the 10 or 15 second little bits between.

ESP the Good Idea/Bad Idea ones

MR SKULLHEAD!
posted by ShawnString at 6:26 AM on April 4, 2012 [4 favorites]


What a fun coincidence! I just got back from a vacation, and while scanning through my library for what music I wanted to bring with me, I stumbled upon the Animaniacs soundtrack, and I ended up listening to it more than anything else.

Here's (mostly) everything from it!

Animaniacs Opening Theme
Yakko's Universe
Schnitzelbank
What Are We?
Yes, Brothers Warner We
Yakko's World
Wakko's America (I'LL BLOW THE WAD!)
Video Revue
I Am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual
I'm Mad
The Planets
The Etiquette Song
I'm Cute
The Senses
Be Careful What You Eat
Let the Anvils Ring
Animaniacs Closing Theme

Also, for anyone with an SNES/Genesis console or emulator handy, the Animaniacs game is a surprisingly solid platformer. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't ever tried it, or revisiting it if it's been a while.
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:27 AM on April 4, 2012 [7 favorites]


Huh!

TIL that the Animaniacs games for SNES and Genesis weren't the same game!

I cannot vouch for the quality of the Genesis one (people on YouTube seem to like it, though) but the SNES one is great.
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2012


For at least two years during my bright college days, there was a regular crowd in my dorm who'd take over the lounge at 4:00 pm every weekday for Animaniacs. It got so that folks would schedule their classes around it. The Goodfeathers' West Side Story parody ("We want to perch on Scor-se-se's head!") is one of the greatest things ever committed to cel animation, with the Slappy & Skippy "Who's on stage" routine at Woodstock right behind.

"Who is on stage?"
"Yes."
"Who is?"
"Yes."
"So the name of the band is Yes."
"No, Aunt Slappy, Yes isn't even at this concert."

Yeah, so it spoke to us for some reason, can't imagine why.
posted by Spatch at 6:35 AM on April 4, 2012 [4 favorites]


You want bad Animaniacs segments, you go look at the Hip Hippos.

Even this supposedly bad segment had its moment of brilliance.
posted by hippybear at 6:41 AM on April 4, 2012


I was a huge Animaniacs fan when they were on. But, you know, I was eight when it premiered, so I was their target audience. My dad, however? He was the biggest Animaniacs fan I have ever met. Loved it. Would try to get his work colleagues to watch it (he was a lawyer). Would buy me and my older brothers Animaniacs-themed toys so he could play with them. My teenage brothers were less than impressed. I would say that I had the CD's, but no, it was my dad who wore them out. We had them on VHS, and eventually I got him the first season on DVD. There was an Animaniacs store at Six Flags for a while, and every time me, my mother, and my siblings went, we had to stop by the shop to pick up something for him, a magnet or a baseball cap or something. He couldn't believe it when they finally got rid of the store.

He loved finding and pointing out the references in the series, and then making us sit through the originals if they were age appropriate.

I guess what I'm saying that they might have thought they were a kid's show, but their real target audience should have been 45 year-old white collar professionals.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:50 AM on April 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


Maurice LaMarche is one of the luckiest goddamn men on the face of this planet. That's all I've got to say.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:55 AM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]


their real target audience should have been 45 year-old white collar professionals.

Or, if my old roommate is anything to go by, "highly overcaffinated underemployed 20-something geeks."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:56 AM on April 4, 2012


And I thought I was awesome for knowing They Might Be Giants' "The Alphabet of Nations". Props.

ZIM-BOB-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
posted by middleclasstool at 7:03 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


I was actually the perfect audience for Animaniacs. In middle school, I had your average geeky obsessions: Star Wars, Marvel comics, sci-fi and fantasy novels and the like. But what I really geeked out about was classic comedy from the 1930's, including but not limited to Chaplin, Keaton, Fields, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope, the Three Stooges and way, way, way above all others, the Marx Brothers. So, I loved the Animaniacs. I loved that I was one of the few kids who got it when they remade Duck Soup. I loved that I got Rita and Runt's ode to the Hope/Crosby Road movies. It was like a show made just for me!
posted by cottoncandybeard at 7:05 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


I adore Bernadette Peters but Rita and Runt needed to die in a fire.
posted by mightygodking at 7:08 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


This song... is now in my head... thanks, Metafilter, I had work to do today.....
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:10 AM on April 4, 2012


Or, if my old roommate is anything to go by, "highly overcaffinated underemployed 20-something geeks."

That would have been me. Watched it every day when I was in my early 20s.
posted by empath at 7:20 AM on April 4, 2012


And now, performing another great classical work: The Great Wakkorotti.

Excuse me. Oh, Excuse me. Excuse me.
posted by the painkiller at 7:32 AM on April 4, 2012


Now you see, I had completely forgotten about the Hip Hippos and Goodfeathers. Those are also examples I would point to when Animaniacs wasn't bringing its 'A' game, although as pointed to above, they had their moments. And I don't doubt that Rita and Runt was occasionally good too, but it was also schmaltzy. I am though, willing to concede that it might have been better than I remember, and my perceptions might be a result of a difference in tone with the rest of the show. And personal ignorance at the time too perhaps.

The people downplaying Paulsen doing the song from memory are missing the point. Sure he had to memorize it in a way, but (apparently) he's doing this completely from memory, without a reminder script in front of him. And he doesn't miss a beat in a very long and complex song, and he gets it all right, and he doesn't trip over his tongue even once. I admit, I'm generally among the first to dump on a supposedly awesome video if I can find holes in it (I'm usually around with an "I see edit cuts" comment when Rube Goldberg machines get posted), but this was great.

But in reference to the closing annotation comment on the YouTube video, COULD WE PLEASE STOP SAYING 'I CAME' AFTER SEEING SOMETHING AWESOME? I COULD SINCERELY DO WITHOUT REFERENCES TO YER PRIVATE MOMENTS OKAY I LUV YA BYE-BYE.

ZIM-BOB-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

The West Xylophone tourism board has a fairly low-tech website.
posted by JHarris at 7:47 AM on April 4, 2012


hippybear: that Yakko's New World link is amazing. I'm not surprised someone hashed out the inaccuracies and obsolete names -- but it still scans! Someone took the time to make the beat and the syllabic emphasis match the original. I could sing it in my head, tapping out the rhythm on my laptop, no problem. That's tremendous.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 7:52 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


One of the things I've always wondered about stuff like the Goodfeathers/West Side Story parody (and YES, "we want to perch on scorsese's head" is and for ever will be lodged in my head ready to come out at a moment's notice) -- did Sondheim hisself ever hear/comment on them? I think they did pretty good, but it'd be interesting to hear the master's thoughts, y'know?
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 8:31 AM on April 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


I still have Animaniacs toys in my office. To this day, when someone in our family tells a punny joke, the rest of us say "Ahht Carney, everybody!"

Also, I think so Brain, but this time, you wear the tutu.
posted by dejah420 at 8:40 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


I had always assumed that Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain was a gag along the lines of Roy and Poochie showing up on The Simpsons. I only saw the episodes sporadically and they were so forgettable that I didn't even realize there was more than one. I was pretty shocked years later when I learned that far from being over the top satire of terrible executive meddling, it was actually just terrible executive meddling.
posted by ckape at 9:48 AM on April 4, 2012


*dials phone*
"Hello, is this the Please, Please, Pleese Get a Life Foundation? I need to arrange a pickup of some obsessives from Metafilter. Send the bus."

Seriously though, my favorite Paulson Sings Yakko's World video was the one where he ran into a young fan (younger than the song Yakko's World itself) after a concert, and when she mentioned to him how she had sung Yakko's World for her history class, Rob decided it was duet time.
posted by radwolf76 at 10:03 AM on April 4, 2012 [5 favorites]


I don't understand why it's not celebrated more today than it is
Or even then. It got some attention, but I thought it was as close as anyone’s ever come to the classic WB cartoons.

Where I worked we would try and get out of whatever we were doing every afternoon long enough to watch the Animaniacs, especially Pinky and the Brain. All adult men.

The Orson Welles bit? I was floored.

Bubba Bo Bob Brain.
posted by bongo_x at 10:05 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


You're not a man, you're a Chicken Boo.
posted by emeiji at 10:24 AM on April 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


My favorite part of this video is the fact that the audience, being unmiked, sounds like it's just one woman, so in my mind he's sitting in an almost-empty room with a microphone, impressing just one person.
posted by xingcat at 11:09 AM on April 4, 2012


that Yakko's New World link is amazing. I'm not surprised someone hashed out the inaccuracies and obsolete names -- but it still scans!

Unfortunately, it's now out of date, as Yugoslavia doesn't exist any more and they need to find room for Serbia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro.

Quick solution:

Switzerland, Austria, and Yugoslavia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece

becomes

Switzerland, Austria, and Macedonia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece

And

Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina (the fighting there's not very pretty);
Andorra, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, then San Marino and Vatican City;


becomes

Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro;
Andorra, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Serbia, Kosovo, San Marino;


Granted, this knocks out the Vatican and maybe you can make room for it in the Western Sahara verse, but I say fuck Benedict, he knew what was coming to him.
posted by mightygodking at 11:19 AM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Unfortunately, it's now out of date, as Yugoslavia doesn't exist any more and they need to find room for Serbia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro.

Also East Timor and South Sudan are new since then. Are there any others?
posted by Sand Reckoner at 1:13 PM on April 4, 2012


grog: "His name is Robert Paulson?"

So it wasn't just me.
posted by Splunge at 2:20 PM on April 4, 2012


I met Rob when I was little at a special "flight to the north pole" put on by the local hospital here. He somehow got hired to do this and at that time, I was a HUGE Animaniacs fan, and when we met, I was in awe. This was at the airport, and he got on the PA system at the gate where our "flight" was, and he did Wakkos World, and dedicated it to me. He stumbled a few times, but I was still in awe. Even got his autograph too,
posted by wheelieman at 2:58 PM on April 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


There's one thing I've learned from Rob Paulsen:

Don't trust the skull.
posted by Malor at 3:21 PM on April 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


OH MY, this thread is going to be my new favourite time-waster for the next couple of days! *Man*, I loved that show. I still have about half of this song memorized, but I will admit I do not have the whole thing. Time to work on that.

And I thought I was awesome for knowing They Might Be Giants' "The Alphabet of Nations". Props.

Well, you are, of course. But it is a mite less impressive than this particular feat. I will give you points if you know the extra list they do in concert, though. I've never actually looked that up.
posted by Because at 4:07 PM on April 4, 2012


I am going to say that I was a huge Histeria! fan. The Big Fat Baby sessions would often leaving me in floorbound convulsions.

I used to use the nickname Monkeyhead for my exwife. (Long story) Well, after Elvira/Pinky/Brain, I would sometimes have to change that to "Cranky Bighead Monkey"...

I know Saturday mornings are dead, and that makes me sad. Even in my thirties, I would hapy grab myself a huge bowl of Cap'n Crunch Classic with ice cold milk and camp out all morning. I will say one thing about all these shows...I miss people trying to push boundaries and show cartoons were not just a brain-dead child's entertainment. It was like they were channeling the spirit of Jay Ward,
posted by Samizdata at 9:40 AM on April 5, 2012 [3 favorites]


Holy cow, two of you actually caught that reference. Well done!

We're such nerds.
posted by Malor at 3:38 PM on April 5, 2012


Conspicuously absent from this thread: the US Presidents song. We actually used it as a memory aid in AP US History class, and it worked. Though it does stall out at Clinton, of course. (Fun fact: the original penultimate lyrics? "The one in charge is plain to see: it's Clinton -- first name Hillary!")
posted by Rhaomi at 5:55 PM on April 5, 2012


I am going to say that I was a huge Histeria! fan. The Big Fat Baby sessions would often leaving me in floorbound convulsions.

Oh, man. I'd forgotten about Histeria!. That was an interesting show, even enough that I might want to add it to my collection.

*looks*

Oh, no DVD set has been released. *pout*
posted by hippybear at 6:38 PM on April 5, 2012


Histeria is a show that started airing after I became separated from television, so I don't know much about it.

Re: don't trust the skull, I'm afraid I don't get it. Would you mind explaining?
posted by JHarris at 6:45 PM on April 5, 2012


hippybear: "I am going to say that I was a huge Histeria! fan. The Big Fat Baby sessions would often leaving me in floorbound convulsions.

Oh, man. I'd forgotten about Histeria!. That was an interesting show, even enough that I might want to add it to my collection.

*looks*

Oh, no DVD set has been released. *pout*
"

Of course not. Because I want it. And that's the way it always works...
posted by Samizdata at 9:46 PM on April 5, 2012


JHarris, let me Google that for you.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:48 PM on April 5, 2012


Greg_Ace:
1. I already knew of both Planescape Torment and Mr. Skullhead and his Show, which are the primary things you find when searching for the phrase. I did watch Animaniacs. I don't know, it didn't seem like a strong enough connection.
2. I already Googled it before posting the comment and for the reasons given the joke was not made clear. And it's still not clear. So phooey on you and your attempt at snark, I get made fun of better than that all the time.
posted by JHarris at 12:36 AM on April 6, 2012


Re: don't trust the skull, I'm afraid I don't get it. Would you mind explaining?

Rob Paulsen played the voice of Morte.
posted by Ryvar at 12:38 AM on April 6, 2012


JHarris, I think the only people that would get that (rather feeble, really) joke would be the set of those who watched Animaniacs, who also played Planescape:Torment, who realized at the time, "Hey, Morte's voice is Yakko!" , and who liked Torment well enough to remember that line all these years.

In other words, the total target audience is probably something like 250 people in the whole country. :-)
posted by Malor at 1:42 AM on April 6, 2012


who realized at the time, "Hey, Morte's voice is Yakko!"

Ah! The fog lifts!
posted by JHarris at 7:25 AM on April 6, 2012


JHarris: So phooey on you and your attempt at snark, I get made fun of better than that all the time.

DOESN'T MATTER
HAD SNARK
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:21 AM on April 6, 2012


Ah! The fog lifts!

I can't imagine that you haven't played that game, but if you didn't make the connection at the time, Morte's voice is basically identical to Yakko's, just a little more serious. And, as always with Mr. Paulsen, the lines are delivered flawlessly.

It's a shame Torment wasn't full talkie -- that was too much data and too much expense, way back when -- but even partial-talkie was fun.
posted by Malor at 1:17 PM on April 6, 2012


"I can't imagine that you haven't played that game, but if you didn't make the connection at the time, Morte's voice is basically identical to Yakko's, just a little more serious. "

I had the game (still have the CDs somewhere, I'm sure) and I didn't notice this.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:39 PM on April 6, 2012


I have to admit that I have not played Planescape: Torment. It's one of those things I've always wanted to play but the intersection of my free time, energy level and patience with messing with CDs has never sufficiently aligned to play it, although I know a bit about it. No doubt if I had heard Murray the Skull speak I would have laughed uproariously.
posted by JHarris at 5:29 PM on April 6, 2012


GOG.com has Torment for cheap, and it installs and runs easily. They also have the Baldur's Gate series. No CDs required!
posted by Malor at 4:34 AM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


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